Safety helmet chin strap



Apzrifl M, 3%? J. MARCHELLO 3,314,078

SAFETY HELMET CHIN STRAP Filed Oct. 12, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR JOHN L, MARCHELLO ATTORNEYS A E m, WW? J, L. MARcHELLO SAFETY HELMET CHIN STRAP 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 12, 1965 FIG. 9

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JOHN L. MARCHELLO ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,314,078 SAFETY HELMET CHIN STRAP John L. Marchello, Ann Arbor, Mich, assignor to American Safety Equipment Corporation of Michigan, New York, N.Y., a corporation of Delaware Filed Oct. 12, 1965, Ser. No. 495,177 4 Claims. (Cl. 2-3) This invention relates to a safety helmet having a concealable chin strap.

Safety helmets are normally provided with an adjustable chin strap having an exposed clasp which is susceptible to unintentional release. When the chin strap is not in use, there is no convenient place for storing it.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a safety helmet having means for shielding the chin strap clasp from accidential release and having a concealed place for storing the chin strap when the strap is not in use.

Another object of this invention is to provide a safety helmet inner liner having a channel forming flange for I receiving and concealing the chin strap and for simultaneously serving as a shock absorber.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following specification of which the attached drawings form a part.

In these drawings:

FIG. 1 is a front view of the safety helmet, and

FIG. 2 is a side view thereof.

FIG. 3 is a side view, partially fragmented to reveal a portion of the inner construction.

FIG. 4 is a side view, but with the hat band partially removed to reveal a portion of the chin strap.

FIG. 5 is a smaller scale, side view showing the hat band disassembled from the helmet.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged, sectional view of a portion of the safety helmet taken along line 6-6 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged, cross-sectional elevation of the safety helmet taken along line 77 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged, cross-sectional view of the rear portion of the safety helmet.

FIG. 9 is a view similar to FIG. 8 but showing the configuration and position of the inner liner under impact.

As shown in FIG. 7, helmet 10 generally comprises an outer shell 12, an inner shell 14 spaced from the outer shell, and a relatively thick resilient liner 16 substantially filling the space between the inner and outer shells.

The inner and outer shells are formed of a semi-flexible, relatively stiff, material which will flex or bend only under considerable pressure and which will return to its initial shape upon release of that pressure. Such a material may be acrilonitrile butadiene styrene (commonly known as ABS), which is a thermo'forming plastic sheet, of a thickness of approximately .05 to .06 inch.

The intermediate resilient liner 16 is preferably formed of a foamed plastic material, such as foamed polystyrene. Such a material is characterized by being resilient and compressible under pressure, while having a relatively slow recovery rate upon release of pressure to return to its original shape. One suitable cushioning material is that described in US. Patent No. 3,058,162, used in a thickness of approximately /z-inch.

Within the helmet is positioned a cradle somewhat similar to that shown in the patent to Zbikowski, No. 3,137,859, issued June 23, 1964. The cradle comprises a horizontally arranged head band having a forward part 18 and a rearward part 20, each part being secured to the inner shell 14 by means of rivets or the like 22. The two parts 18 and 20 of the head band are secured to each other by means of male snap fastener halves 24, mounted upon headband part 18, which may be passed through any one of a plurality of holes in the rearward head band part 20, so as to adjust the headband circumference for various sizes.

A resilient top pad 26 is placed within the inner shell at the upper part thereof, so that the helmet rests comfortably upon the head of the wearer.

So that the helmet may be securely kept in place on the head of the wearer, an elastic band chin strap 28 is provided. The upper forward portion of strap 28 passes through holes 30 in outer shell 12 and lies along the outer surface of the outer shell, where it is concealed beneath decorative hat band 32. Hat band 32 is held in place on the outer shell 12 by means of a resilient band 34which passes entirely around the helmet and is secured to a portion of the hatband (see FIG. 5).

To make chin strap 28 adjustable in length, an adjustment clasp 36 is provided. The ends of strap 28 are positioned so that when the decorative band is inplace,

clasp 36 is concealed and shielded by the how 38 of the decorative band. A portion of band 32 is removable so as to provide ready access to the chin strap adjusting clasp 36. For this purpose snap fastener halves 40 and 42 are provided on the band 32 and on the inner face of the band how 38.

While providing convenient adjustment of the chin strap, this arrangement has several other advantageous aspects. The adjusting clasp 36, being placed on the outi side of the helmet and above the brim, is never in contact with any portion of the head or face of the wearer. In this location, there is no danger of injury resulting from an abrasion or bruise from the clasp under a severe head impact. A second advantage of this configuration is that the covering of the clasp by the decorative hat band prevents accidental unclasping of the chin strap, as might otherwise occur in the case of an exposed clasp if it were contacted by some object during an impact. The danger that the safety helmet could be knocked off the head of the wearer is therefore substantially reduced. The danger of accidential removal of the safety helmet is further reduced by the fact that the upper forward portion of the chin strap and the clasp are pressed tightly against the outer shell 12 of the helmet, so that they lie flat. This arrangement prevents slack from developing in the chin strap, which slack might otherwise permit the helmet to be more readily removed from the head] of the wearer.

A convenient space for storing the lower portion of the chin strap when not in use is provided by the unique construction of the inner shell 14. The lower portion of the inner shell 14 is doubled back to form a U-shaped flange 44 which is secured to the lower inner surface of outer shell 14 by means of an adhesive applied at portion 46 of the flange. This adhesively bonded rim 46 comprises the sole connection between the inner and outer shells of helmet 10. Flange 44 is bent into a continuous shoulder portion 47 to form a continuous channel or space 48 between the flange and the lower inner rim of outer shell. 12. The chin strap is folded iupwardly (see arrow in FIG. 2) into that space for concealed storage when it is not in use.

Flange 44 of inner shell 14 also functions to absorb impact or shock to the helmet. Referring to FIGS. 8 and 9, it can be seen that flange shoulder 47 and lower bend 50 provide two shock absorbing areas which will deflect or bend to absorb impacts (-as shown in FIG. 9).

In addition the lower edge of liner 16 rests upon shoulder 47 and such lower edge, which is easily breakable in handling, is protected by the flange 44. This makes it possible to assemble the inner shell, cradle and liner together and thereafter assemble these, as a unit, into the outer shell.

This invention may be further developed within the scope of the following claims. It is to be understood, therefore, that the above description is illustrative of only 35 a single embodiment of this invention, and is not to be read in a strictly limited sense.

I now claim:

1. A safety helmet comprising:

a thin-walled generally dome-shaped outer shell having a lower edge defining a rim, said shell having a hole on each side thereof near the rim thereof;

a thin-walled generally dome-shaped inner shell disposed within said outer shell and spaced therefrom;

said inner and outer shells each being formed of a stiff semi-flexible material, characterized by being bendable under substantial pressure, but normally recoverin-g its shape upon release of such pressure;

a resilient shock absorbing liner substantially filling the space between said inner and outer shells;

a resilient chin strap having its respective ends threaded upwardly and outwardly through said respective outer shell holes, thereby to create a loop portion descending from the helmet and adapted to pass under the chin of the wearer, said chin strap ends extending around a portion of the exterior of said outer shell so as to converge upon each other;

clasp means for releasably and adjustably securing together said chin strap ends to form an anchoring portion for said strap on the exterior of said outer shell;

a head band on the exterior surface of said outer shell and overlying said chin strap anchoring portion, thereby to selectively maintain said chin strap anchoring portion and said clasp means fiat against said outer shell and to selectively prevent access to said clasp means.

2. The safety helmet of claim 1, and the lower edge of said inner shell being bent outwardly and upwardly to form a continuous outer flange, and said flange being double bent, between its upper and lower edges to form a central, outwardly and upwardly inclined shoulder portion, with the flange portion above the shoulder portion forming a continuous rim, means securing said continuous rim in abutting face to face contact with the interior of the outer shell;

and an annular groove formed between the lower edge portion of the outer shell and the lower edge portion of said flange, beneath said shoulder portion, within which groove the loop portion of said chin strap may be inserted and stored.

3. A safety helmet comprising:

a thin-walled generally dome-shaped outer shell;

a thin-Walled generally dome-shaped inner shell disposed within said outer shell and spaced therefrom;

said inner and outer shells each being formed of a stiff semi-flexible material, characterized by being bendable under substantial pressure but normally recovering its shape upon release of such pressure;

a resilient shock absorbing liner substantially filling the space between the inner and outer shells;

and the lower edge of said inner shell being bent outwardly and upwardly to form a continuous outer flange, and said flange being double bent, between its upper and lower edges to form a central, outwardly and upwardly inclined shoulder portion, with the flange portion above the shoulder portion forming a continuous rim, means securing said continuous rim in abutting face to face contact with the interior of the outer shell:

and an annular groove formed between the lower edge portion of said flange, beneath said shoulder portion;

and the lower edge portion of said liner being snugly inserted and retained between the flange rim and the portion of said inner shell arranged opposite to said flange rim, and rested upon said shoulder portion.

4. A safety helmet as defined in claim 3, and said helmet having a chin strap secured to at least one of the shells, at the opposite sides of the helmet and normally depending beneath the helmet;

said groove being of a sufficient width and depth to receive and store said chin strap when said strap is not in use.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,015,103 1/1962 Zbikowski 23 3,116,490 1/1964 Zbikowski 23 FOREIGN PATENTS 278,952 10/1930 Italy.

JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

I. R. BOLER, Assistant Examiner. 

3. A SAFETY HELMET COMPRISING: A THIN-WALLED GENERALLY DOME-SHAPED OUTER SHELL; A THIN-WALLED GENERALLY DOME-SHAPED INNER SHELL DISPOSED WITHIN SAID OUTER SHELL AND SPACED THEREFROM; SAID INNER AND OUTER SHELLS EACH BEING FORMED OF A STIFF SEMI-FLEXIBLE MATERIAL, CHARACTERIZED BY BEING BENDABLE UNDER SUBSTANTIAL PRESSURE BUT NORMALLY RECOVERING ITS SHAPE UPON RELEASE OF SUCH PRESSURE; A RESILIENT SHOCK ABSORBING LINER SUBSTANTIALLY FILLING THE SPACE BETWEEN THE INNER AND OUTER SHELLS; AND THE LOWER EDGE OF SAID INNER SHELL BEING BENT OUTWARDLY AND UPWARDLY TO FORM A CONTINUOUS OUTER FLANGE, AND SAID FLANGE BEING DOUBLE BENT, BETWEEN ITS UPPER AND LOWER EDGES TO FORM A CENTRAL, OUTWARDLY AND UPWARDLY INCLINED SHOULDER PORTION, WITH THE FLANGE PORTION ABOVE THE SHOULDER PORTION FORMING A CONTINUOS RIM, MEANS SECURING SAID CONTINUOUS RIM IN ABUTTING FACE TO FACE CONTACT WITH THE INTERIOR OF THE OUTER SHELL; AND AN ANNULAR GROOVE FORMED BETWEEN THE LOWER EDGE PORTION OF SAID FLANGE, BENEATH SAID SHOULDER PORTION; AND THE LOWER EDGE PORTION OF SAID LINER BEING SNUGLY INSERTED AND RETAINED BETWEEN THE FLANGE RIM AND THE PORTION OF SAID INNER SHELL ARRANGED OPPOSITE TO SAID FLANGE RIM, AND RESTED UPON SAID SHOULDER PORTION. 